Friday, April 28, 2006

Island Time...

People who have to listen to me (and bless you all for not telling me to put a sock in it!) know that I've been on a killer schedule since I first signed with Kensington last fall...as in two single titles and two novellas completed in seven months. To top it off, I've just been asked to write three more single titles and three novellas which is totally cool and absolutely terrifying, so you'll understand why I've felt as if my life were spinning a bit out of control lately. Then, on Thursday, I got on a plane and flew to Hawaii to visit our son and his wife...and our three month old granddaughter, Ella. It's now Friday and I'm in Kaneohe, on Oahu. I am NOT writing anything...well, except for the blog, but that doesn't count, does it? :-) I'm sitting her listening to a soft rain falling through the palm trees, Melanie, my daughter in law, is nursing Ella, I've got one of their extra laptops so I can check email, a great book half read and a glass of diet Coke on the table next to me. I'm so relaxed I'm almost nervous! Where's the drive, the need to create, to (figuratively) put pen to paper? It's got to be island time, the slow pace of the tropics, the fresh scent of rain overlaid by baby powder and the ginger growing just outside the window. It's probably a good thing for my career that I don't live here. I think I could get used to this! Aloha, and I'll see you all next week.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Hooray for Spring!

Now that the warm (and dry!) weather is finally here, at least for a couple of days, I've got a serious case of spring fever. Even though I have 2 projects on deadline, I'm hoping to have a little time to enjoy some of my favorite things about spring and summer. Here are the top 10 things I'm looking forward to once the warm weather sets in:

  1. Watching my baby shubble around in nothing but a diaper
  2. Opening my windows for a nice warm breeze
  3. Flowers blooming on our trees outside
  4. Ripe from the garden tomatoes (yeah, I know I have awhile to wait for these!)
  5. Cherries
  6. Peaches
  7. Early morning trail runs
  8. Reading a juicy romance by the pool
  9. Drinking chilled white wine on the deck
  10. Barbecuing and eating dinner outside

What's on your list?

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Sunny California

All of us Red Hot Romance babes are Nor Cal girls. Usually, that means by middle of April we've got some nice looking tans, tank tops and shorts are out, and we're happy, happy, happy!

Well, up until yesterday, it seemed like we'd all up and moved to Seattle. (Which, btw, I hear has had a lovely, sunny winter...) Sue Grimshaw came out to talk to our local RWA chapter and commented that she felt like she was in Michigan, not San Francisco.

But all that's changed this week, thank god! Blue skies, sunny, I took my son to the park today and basked in the delicious weather. It seems silly to be sitting at my desk now, at 3pm while he naps, as the sun streams in my window, to work on Constant Cravings (June 2007). Really, I should be slipping into a bikini and laying out on my deck soaking it in.

I just ate a popsicle, though, so hopefully that'll tide me over until quitting time.

Anyone else celebrating the good weather?
;-) Bella
http://www.BellaAndre.com

Sunday, April 09, 2006

Relaxing?

I'm beginning to think I've forgotten how to relax. This weekend is the first chance I've had to kick back without a story due since signing my contract with Kensington. Since late September I've written two single title novels and three 30,000 word novellas. Finished the last one on Friday, and I'm taking a break before starting my next single title. The only probelm is, my break-taking appears to be broken! I can't turn it off...yesterday I drove over 200 miles to attend an RWA Chapter meeting, and today, in spite of my best intentions to be a bum I've updated my website, built a new site for my late mother-in-law's funeral pictures, organized my office and harassed my husband. He finally gave up and went for a bike ride--and it's RAINING outside, so that tells you how desperate he is to get away from me! Even the dog is in hiding. I know Rufus is afraid I'll make him run around the block again--in the rain. We've done the mile loop once today and as far as he's concerned, that's enough. Any of you guys have this problem? An inability to turn off the motor, to let the engine at least IDLE for a bit? I can't even sit and read. It's like I'm full of nervous energy I can't direct and there's not a project to direct it toward. Hmmm...maybe I'll just go cook something.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

tagged

Nyree tagged me over on her blog, so here goes:

4 movies you would watch over and over
Star Wars
Underworld
Wizard of Oz
Sound of Music

4 places you have lived:
California
Utah
Washington State
Oregon

4 TV shows you love to watch
SVU
Bones
Without a Trace
CSI

4 places you have been on vacation:
Hawaii
France
England
Scotland

3 Websites you visit daily:
liquidsilverbooks.com forum
Pamela Britton Forum
yahoo


4 of your favorite foods:
Macaroni and Cheese
Spaghetti
Ham and cheese wraps
Cold Stone Ice Cream

4 places you would rather be right now:
Scotland
Hawaii
Washington
Home

Tag 4 Friends you think will respond:
Nah, they are all too busy

Rae Monet
http://RaeMonet.com

Beware the Ides of March...

Well, poor Julius Caesar didn't pay attention, and look what happened to him? This past month of March has been absolutely horrible in our household. We had the deaths of two family members, both elderly, but their passing was totally unexpected and dealt a blow to the entire clan. We broke records for rain in northern California, and here in our home at Cobb we actually had snowfall on the 31st of March, which has been terribly depressing. There have been family crises too numerous to mention, all of which have done their best to stand between me and the inevitable deadline on the WIP. I know...it's not "all about me," and in light of all that has happened I guess my moaning sounds damned petty...but then, every once in awhile, in spite of interruptions and all the crap that life can throw at you, there comes a day where the words just flow. I wrote almost 10,000 of the little suckers yesterday, managed to figure out how my story will end and have just one final chapter to write today. It's days like this, where you finish with a most amazing rush that you have to admit there is no finer job in the world than to be an author.
It takes you out of the everyday world, away from sadness and depression and things that conspire to weigh you down, and delivers you into a fantasy world where you have, if not complete control, at least a lot more than you do in real life. Days like that are pure gold, not to be ignored but to be savored. Of course, in my case, it didn't happen until the first of April... :-)

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